Synthesis - Executive Summary - Technical note

Synthesis

Executive Summary

Background note

G20 Hamburg Summit

The OECD work and the OECD report "Investing in Climate, Investing in Growth" have been recognised and welcomed in the G20 Leaders' Declaration, which is a strong endorsement of the message that climate and growth policies must go hand-in-hand:

G20 Summit Declaration of the Heads of State and Government

G20 Summit - Agreed document

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Events - Press releases - Blogs & articles

PRESS RELEASES and speeches

8 July 2017 - G20 Hamburg Summit

The OECD work and the OECD report "Investing in Climate, Investing in Growth" have been recognised and welcomed in the G20 Leaders' Declaration, which is a strong endorsement of the message that climate and growth policies must go hand-in-hand:

The OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría presented the results of the major OECD report "Investing in Climate, Investing in Growth" which provides a ground-breaking analysis of how low-emission and climate-resilient development can be achieved without compromising economic growth, competitiveness or well-being at an OECD-hosted international conference, in collaboration with the German Ministry of Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and in conjunction with the Petersberg Climate Dialogue.

How can governments ensure that climate-friendly growth policies provide a major boost to short-term growth while increasing longer-term resilience?

What development pathways will get us to the Paris Agreement outcomes?

How do investment flows need to change to get us there? What are the growth and structural implications of going low carbon?

How can governments create the conditions to drive a prosperous transition?

The conference took place in the context of the German G20 presidency and attended by decision-makers from a large number of countries, business representatives as well as high-level actors of international co-operation.

OECD Insights: "Climate: Towards a just transition, with no stranded workers and no stranded communities", by Sharan Burrow, General Secretary, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

Ambitious action on climate is an imperative. The G20 leaders have a chance to reinforce the Paris Climate Agreement and raise ambition with concrete measures to ensure significant progress towards net zero economies and reap the benefits of investment now in jobs and economic growth... Read the full blog post.

Huffington Post: "What's Good for the Climate Can Be Good for Growth Too", by Catherine L. Mann, OECD Chief Economist

On the one hand, governments are striving to re-ignite growth in a world of slowing productivity growth and rising inequality. Economic growth has been at best modest in the last decade in most G20 economies. The OECD projects a moderate pick-up of world GDP of around 3.5% in 2017 and 2018. But this will not suffice to maintain good levels of pensions, health and education, nor to create sufficient jobs for the young... Read the full op ed.

OECD Observer: "Opening a new chapter in the infrastructure of Latin America", by Juan Pablo Bonilla, Manager of the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Sector, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

In Latin America, as elsewhere, sustainable infrastructure plays a vital role in improving the quality of life and supporting economic growth. What many people don’t know is that sustainable infrastructure also has a lasting impact on climate resilience. Every year, natural disasters generate US$2 billion in costs in Latin America, not counting the incalculable loss of human life: in Colombia, my own country, the April 2017 rain-driven mudslides took the lives of more than 250 people... Read the full blog post.

Devex: "Getting climate infrastructure right - A stronger role for development banks", by Jorge Moreira da Silva, Director of the OECD Development Co-operation Directorate

The 2015 Paris Agreement stipulates that global warming needs to be limited to well below 2 degrees Celsius to reduce the impact of climate change on human life. Yet, with the world’s population set to rise by more than 2 billion by 2030, the coming decade will see a leap in infrastructure investment — transportation, energy, water and sanitation — which could make or break the 2 degree goal... Read the full op ed.

Project Background

The OECD undertook a major project on the economic growth and investment implications of the transition to a low-carbon, climate resilient economy in the context of the German G20 Presidency.

Bringing together the growth, development and climate agendas

Delivering on the Paris objectives will require fundamental shifts in our economies, including major changes in how capital is allocated.

The Growth, Investment and the Low-Carbon Transition project analyses how low-emission and climate-resilient development can be achieved without compromising economic growth, competitiveness, or well-being across the G20 group of countries and beyond.

Invigorating economic growth in the short-term does not necessarily equate with investing in emissions-intensive infrastructure and locking-in a high-carbon pathway. Escaping the low-growth trap that many countries currently find themselves in does not mean embracing a high-carbon future complete with future economic liabilities in terms of stranded assets and physical damages due to climate change impacts.

The project looks at a number of key questions surrounding the low-carbon transition:

1. What development pathways will get us to the Paris outcome?

2. How do investment flows need to change to get us there?

3. What are the growth and structural implications of going low-carbon?

4. How can governments create the conditions to drive a prosperous transition?